I am Going to Run for President

The other day, my wife and I were discussing our budget. With the cost of everything going up and being on a limited income, Social Security, and a small annuity, making ends meet has become very difficult. How will we pay the upkeep on our house, which we should have sold a couple of years ago and downsized, and have money left over for groceries? We all make dumb mistakes.

Since I have ridden this old rock we call Earth around the sun nearly 85 times, my prospects of finding employment are between slim and nonexistent. Although I have been a police officer, spent 20 years as a farm broadcaster on the top radio station in the Midwest, 12 years as a US Congressman, and 13 years as Vice President of Forensic, Technology, Inc., nobody seems very interested in hiring an old, recovering politician.

While looking around at the job market, it is a possibility to go to work for one of the fast-food places in town. The only drawback is I walk with a cane. Taking a tray of soft drinks and hamburgers to a car would not work well.

Baggage? Heck, I do not even have a paper sack

So, what else might be available? And that's when the little light bulb above my head came on!

Run for the President of the United States!

The job will be open shortly, and both political parties are looking for someone with no baggage. Baggage? Heck, I do not even have a paper sack.

I started researching what was required to become the President.

The first is being a natural-born citizen of the United States. OK, I can check that off, as I was born in the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers in Sioux City, Iowa.

Second, you must be at least 35 years of age. That's no problem. I can hardly remember when I was 35.

The third is to register with the Secretary of State and fill out a bunch of forms. I guess contacting Austin is the first step.

The next issue is selecting a political party. I was registered as an Independent until I failed a sanity test in 1984 and ran for a congressional seat. The Democrat and Republican parties have changed a great deal over my lifetime.

Leaving the broadcasting business, I had to select a political party. My mom and dad were hard-working people that married during the Great Depression. They rented a four-room house, then sublet two of the rooms. Dad farmed in the daytime and at night cut wood to sell while Mom made quilts and did other sewing jobs.

They were never active in politics or the Republican Party but usually voted that way. I learned a lot from them, so why not follow their model?

Discussing some issues in the CSP platform is essential

I could have picked the Democrat party. It seemed their interest was primarily in blue-collar people working in factories and industry. We lived on a farm, and no manufacturing facilities were in sight. My Mom and Dad were farmers, self-employed, working building commerce and a good food supply. That's what they taught me, and I was much more familiar with their world than that of industry.

Looking at the two parties today, deciding is much more difficult. The Democrat party has been on a slippery road running downhill that only allows you to turn left. Republicans have been on the road going down the other side of the hill that turns sharply to the right.

So, I think I will start my own political party. I am going to name it the Common Sense Party (CSP). Many good common-sense people call themselves Republicans or Democrats. They should jump on the CSP wagon. I sure hope you will get in line to sign up

I will not get into the entire list here, but discussing some issues in the CSP platform is essential.

Since we live in Texas, gun ownership tops the list. The other day, a friend sent me one of those meme things you get in your email. It was a picture of two hands, palms upward. Laying on the left palm was a rock, and on the right palm was a pistol.

The caption on the picture said, "When Cain killed Abel, God did not confiscate all the rocks. God blamed Cain, not the rock."

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The government to remain small and under the control of the people

I think that pretty well settles the gun argument.

History is our best teacher. It will be repeated if we do not read it, try to change it, or understand it. As a result, another plank in the CSP platform will require every adult and student in the country to study and understand the US Constitution. Everyone should understand what it says. It is the foundation we are built on.

Have we made mistakes as a country? Absolutely! Please show me, anyone who has lived a perfect life, never made a bad decision, or lost their temper over something. Countries work the same way, ours included.

The Constitution tells us the people own the government, not the other way around. The government to remain small and under the control of the people.

We made our way along that path for 86 years until Abe Lincoln, on May 15, 1862, started the United States Department of Agriculture. Forming the USDA sparked a West Texas-style brushfire that has grown into over 2,000 agencies, bureaus, and Cabinet Departments today and continues to grow.

The Common Sense Party is going to put that brushfire out.

Any fireman will tell you that to extinguish a blaze, you must apply a fire retardant to the base cause of the flame to choke out the oxygen feeding the fire. In Congress, the oxygen feeding the fire is the lifetime professional politician.

Serving a lifetime was not the intention of our forefathers. They believed people from all walks of life would serve for a relatively short time and then return to their business or occupation.

Today, we have so many wealthy people in powerful elected positions. Most came to Congress poor, have never held a real job, or did so for a very short time before becoming career politicians. They know nothing about what it's like living in the real world today. Most can't even balance a checkbook.

However, they are great at spending your money to start wonderful new government programs that buy them votes and power.

Harry Truman said it best, "Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook."

Another plank in the CSP platform will be to eliminate the professional politician and return our government to what our forefathers intended it to be

The CSP will pass Term Limits that are years overdue.

If you want to join the Common Sense Party and make a big difference, sign up by going to the polls and electing good people who understand our country's history, who have spent years in the private sector, and who understand its pros and cons. They must pledge to serve for only 12 years and then come home. Most of all, believe in God. There are no denominations in Heaven.

I hope you sign up, and I see you at the polls in November.

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